QUICK START

The Monster
Monster(s):
 A Vampi
Vampire
re:: Te Masquer
Masquerade
ade 5th
5th Edition
Edition
Quicksart 

1
V A MP
MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

n a small American town , someone is killing people and aking their blood, which is

I
What is a always a problem for vampires. If it is
i s a human being, it might draw
draw attention to the
Role-Playing Game? true predators of the nigh.
If it is Kindred  , the Masquerade  is in jeopardy. If it is something else...
1 2

A role-playing game
(RPG) is a co-creation In this quickstart scenario o Vampire: the Masquerade h edition, you and a
game in which players couple of friends will portray inhuman vampires doing their best to stay unliving
assume the roles of in a world lled with peril. In this particular instance, they have been tasked to
characters in a ctional nd a killer before the increased police and civilian scrutiny causes trouble for the
setting. Players act  vampires in the region.
out these roles within
a story, both through
literal acting and verbal What you will need:
description. A Story- ■  A copy of this document, preferably printed so you can
can refer to it during play
teller (“Game Master” and hand out physical copies of the characters and handouts.
in many other games) is ■ Five people, one of whom is acting as Storyteller (and who should be the only
responsible for describ- one reading all of this document).
ing the world, playing ■ Pens and paper for taking notes.
all characters that are ■ Several ten-sided dice in ttwo
wo colors.
colors.
not player characters,
presenting the plot, NOTE: Vampire: the Masquerade is a mature game, dealing with serious and
and helping the story sometimes disturbing themes. Make sure that all participants are comfortable
progress. with this before playing the game. “The Monster(s)” contains explicit violence and
murder, the taking of blood without consent, violations of personal integrity and
references to sexual predation. Always remember that you are not your charac-
ter, and that it is assumed that you are comfortable with exploring morality from
a perspective that isn’t your own. Also note that this isn’t your typical “succeed
or fail” RPG scenario - there are few happy endings.

e Storyteller should start by reading through the scenario at least once, so that he
or she is familiar with the general outline. Present the characters to the players and
distribute them as you as a group see t. Give the players some time to read through
the characters and ask any questions
q uestions before you read t he “Welcome to the World
World of
Darkness” text below, which also starts o the scenario.
e rules o Vampire: the Masquerade that are relevant for this scenario are
interspersed throughout, as well as in the character descriptions. Should the players
go signicantly “o book”, feel free to use rules presented later in the document, or
 you as the Storyteller
Story teller will have to improvise.

1 A term for vampires as a whole, or a single vampire

2 the habit (or Tradition) of hiding the existenc e of vampires from humanit y. Designed to protect
 vampires fro m destru ction at the ha nds of mank ind, the M asque rade was ado pted aer t he Inquisitio n
claimed many Kindred unlives.

2
 QUICK START

 Welco
 Welcome
me to the
 Worl
 Worldd of Darkness
 Welcome
 Welcome to the World
World of Darkness. It is a world not
unlike our own, seen through a darkened lens. As the
unknowing humans sleep, monstrous vampires prowl,
sustaining their undead existence with human blood.
Over the years, these master predators have organised
themselves in a neo-feudal structure, built on bonds of
blood and favor.
In this scenario, you will be portraying four such
 vampires, forming a coterie
coter ie (a tight-knit
tight-knit group of vam-
 pires) working at the behest of their undead masters to
remove threats to the Masquerade.
 As vampires, you can sustain
susta in damage far beyond
 what would kill a morta l, and have access to vampiric
 powers to bend as well as break those t hat oppose you.
However, daytime is no longer yours, and sunlight
burns your esh. Human food or drink rapidly comes
up again. But that pales in comparison with the
Hunger: the only thing that sustains you is blood, and
sooner or later, you always want more. Deny that urge
and be prepared to face the consequences.
In this particular instance, your characters have
been sent to hunt for a killer who might inadvertently
draw attention to vampirekind. Sam Stokes, your
master, is responsible for keeping a lid on things in
 your region, and has sent you to meet with her co ntact
in the local police force for more details.
e hunt for the monster(s)
mon ster(s) is on.”

O NLY THE STORYTELLER SHOULD READ

BEYOND THIS POINT !

3
V A MP
MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

Introduction Storyteller notes

Below are some additional notes for the Storyteller:
“e Monster(s)” is an atypical murder mystery, in ■ If you didn’t know already, you will quickly nd

that the protagonists will not solve a “whodunnit?”. out that players are inventive: they will go places
Instead, they will be confronted by their own natures neither you nor the scenario designer
desig ner dreamed of.
as they unravel the mystery behind the murders. It is  When that happens, you as a Storyteller will have
semi-railroaded in that several scenes propel the plot to improvise. Tis applies particularly to inventive
forward without much player input (victim three and use of Disciplines - Juana could conceivably ask the
four) but it also has several open scenes, where the animals anything, anywhere; Paul could use Pre-
 player characters are le to their own dev ices. monition anywhere. Always give away something,
e main diculty from a Storyteller point of but not too much.
 view is foreshadowing the reveal in chapter t hree just ■  Where does the coterie sleep during the day? It

enough, as well as managing the shi in mood that is assumed that they live in a specially furbished
occurs over chapter two. mobile home, but they are of course free to make
other arrangements if they wish.
THEME , MOOD , RECURRING MOTIFS ■ If the coterie knows what is best for them, they

e themes of “e “ e Monster(s)” are Monsters we  will do their utmost

ut most to stay o the radar of regular
are - outlining in red ink that vampires are indeed law enforcement. Webber’s protection
protection only goes so
monsters, who not only perform monstrous acts on an far, and all it takes
ta kes is for the police to start look-
almost daily basis, but also eventually sink deeper still; ing for them to make the characters’ unlives very
and What should we do with monsters?. e mood dicult. Should someone encounter a mysterious
should be rage and righteousness in the rst acts as the mobile home in the area and decide to investigate
 players chase the monster, shiing into personal hor- during the day, it is likely game over. Te same
ror as it is revealed to the players what their characters goes if the characters are hauled in for questioning
have done. Recurring motifs are the mirror, as well as or held in custody, since they don’t suer daylight
 punishment for wicked deeds.
deed s. gladly.
■ Te coterie is free to bring any reasonable equip- equip-
ment, Sam isn’t stingy. But she is also adamant that
Setting the Scenario it should hold up to an in spection by law en force-
e default setting for this scenario is a small Ameri- ment.
can town, the particulars of which has been le
 purposef ully vague,
vagu e, so as to allow placing it wherever
 you like. Dramatis Personae
e same goes for the various places and people en- Here follows a brief desc ription of the people involved
countered during the scenario: their descriptions are in the drama. Besides these, the player characters are
concise, and it is up to you as the Storyteller to add likely to interact with a number of dierent individu-
details and depth. Is Marcus Lector a traditional suit, als, from potential witnesses to grieving families.
or more of a big game hunter? Is Martha a shrunken
old gure, or a perfectly ordinary woman? Are the DETECTIVE ROBERT WEBBER ,

locations encountered moody and atmospheric, or are THE POLICE CONTACT

 you highlighting their banality? Do you give verbose Turned by greed

g reed and Blood a long ti me ago, Detective
and comprehensive descriptions, or do you let the  Webber
 Webber nowadays works for Mme Stokes (below), sim-
 players’ imaginations do the job? e options are end-  ply because he thinks vampires
vam pires are better suited than
less, and we cannot tell you which ones would give the cops to take care of any “funny business”: his name
best experience for you and your group. for any case that shows traces of the supernatural.

4
 QUICK START

In this case there aren’t any such traces, but Webber MARCUS LECTOR , THE CLOT COLLECTOR

nevertheless recognises the value of vampires staying Marcus Lector is a vampire of means, and spends his
hidden. As well as catching murderers, of course. time collecting victims with rare and delicate blood
that sometimes even yields supernatural eects. He
SAM STOKES , THE KINDRED SHERIFF especially savors the blood of serial killers and other
Madame Sam Stokes is the law among Kindred in remorseless ne’er-do-wells, and is thus on a similar
these parts, and has been so for a long time. Once a mission as the coterie.
eldworker, nowadays a shotcaller behind the scenes, Including Marcus in the scenario is optional,
Sam’s foremost job is protecting the Masquerade. serving as foil and/or opportunity, depending on the
She is the one that has sent the coterie to meet with coterie’s actions.
Detective Webber, and is available to contact if the
coterie runs out of ideas or needs strings pulled. (She THE MONSTER

also makes an appearance in the ashback in Chapter Ever since that fateful night thirty years ago poor
ree.) Martha has been trying to piece together what hap-
 pened to her younger sister. ey say it was a serial
HARRY LLOYD , THE OBSESSED FAN killer, but some things don’t add up. ere are details
One night three decades ago, a heavily intoxicated missing, things subdued. Piece by piece, she has recon-
Harry Lloyd did something that has come to plague structed that night at the hotel and what followed, and
him his entire life. He had long been obsessed with sci- a whole world of darkness and pain ha s been revealed
 movie mega starlet Eliza Burton, a young actress of to her. is has caused her mind to irrevocably snap,
considerable fan acclaim. A toxic fan, he took his xa- and out of pain and vengeance she is now looking to
tion too far, frequently visiting Eliza’s house without recreate the events of thirty years ago in her own,
her knowledge and tracing her every movement. is twisted way, before her health gives out.
fateful night, aer drinking a little too much, Harry
broke into Eliza’s home, and when she told him to THE COTERIE

leave, he lashed out. He murdered her. Or that’s what See the appendix for descriptions of the player charac-
the papers and the judge said. Harry maintained his ters. As with the other descriptions in the book, there
innocence — of the murder, at least — and still does to is little in the way of physical description here, leaving
this day. it to the players to imagine what their characters are
He was released from prison a few months ago and like. Some parts of the character sheet relate to sys-
 was hopeful his crime would have been forgotten. e tems not in this quickstart - ignore those for now.
tabloids ensured this would not be the case, clickbait
articles and thinkpiece vlogs creating an Eliza Burton
renaissance while portraying Lloyd as a wretched
obsessive fan.
He now lives a miserable existence in his house,
ostracized by the community, from which he is oen
the subject of harassment and vandalism. He would
have moved long ago if he had the means.
e coterie might encounter Harry already in
chapter one, but he otherwise shows up in chapter
two.

5
V A MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

Chapter 1 – Hook and introduction

“Nobody owns life, but anyone who Example: Aileen wishes to distract the ter’s hunger level with o-color
can pick up a fr ying pan owns death.”  attendant so that the rest of the cote- ten sided dice (one dice per level
― William S. Burroughs rie can sneak into the morgue. Aileen’s of hunger). It ranges from zero
 player rolls six dice (three dice for (satised) to ve (ravenous). All

C hapter one is the intro-

duction of the scenario,
and will give the players
 plenty of leeway when it comes to
actions. Hopefully they will have
 Aileens Manipulation of 3, and three
more for her Subterfuge of 3). e dice
come up ‘6, 3 , 5, 7, 7, 8’ giving Aileen a
toal of four successes. Given that the
Storyteller earlier set the Dificulty at
 players begin with a hunger level
of one. Whenever you make a roll,
substitute as many dice for hunger
dice as your level of hunger.

seen a cop show or two, so as not  3 (a common Dificulty for challenging Example: Charles has a hunger level
to be completely lost at how to situations), Aileen succeeds and the of three, and his player has therefore
investigate a murder. attendant is properly distracted.  placed three o-colour dice on the
character shee. When it is time to
Criticals roll for a ask with ive dice, Charles’
Rules in this  Whenever you make a roll and get  player substitutes three of those dice
two or more tens (‘0’ on many ten-  for Charles’ hunger dice.
chapter: sided dice), you have scored a cr iti-
cal, and get two extra successes! Messy criticals
e rules you will be using in this  Whenever you score a critical and
chapter are basic rolls, willpower and Willpower at least one ‘10’ (‘0’) comes from
hunger. Players who are unsatised a hunger dice, the character’s
 with their rolls may spend a point  vampiric nature (also known as
Basic rolls of their character’s Willpower - a “e Beast”) makes itself known.
Basic rolls are simple - whenever measure of mental fortitude - to  You get two extra successes, but
a character wants to accomplish re-roll up to three non-hunger  perform the action as a vampire
something that is dicult and dice. Note that this may negate  would: killing someone you were
the outcome is uncertain, add messy criticals and bestial failures trying to subdue, ashing fangs
one character attribute (Strength, (see below). To spend a point of at someone you were trying to
Composure, etc) to one character  Willpower, simply check one Will- intimidate, feeding from someone
skill3 (Drive, Larceny, etc.), roll  power box. ere is no way to re-  you met when canvassing, etc.
that many dice and count all that gain willpower in this quickstart;
come up 6 or more: this is the  what you get you need to make last Example: when perusing the archives
number of successes. If the num- until the end of the scenario. to ind out if there have been any
ber of successes equals or exceeds similar murders in the pas, Paul’s
the Diculty of the task (set by Hunger  player rolls two tens, one of which is
the Storyteller) the character suc- Hunger is the eternal curse of all on a hunger die. Engrossing himself in
ceeds.  vampires, driving them to hunt the archives, Paul uncovers plenty of
for blood to satisfy their bestial information, but when the archivist
urges. As the hunger of a vampire checks up on him, Paul’s annoyance at
increases, these urges will eventu- being interrupted results in him b reak-
3 Sometimes e.g. a Discipline rating is
substituted for a skil, and on some occa-
ally drive it to inhuman actions. ing the archivist’s arm.
sions two attributes are rolled Keep track of each player charac-

6
 QUICK START

If you fail to come up with some-

thing appropriate the roll just fails
instead, as the Beast clouds the
 vampire’s actions.

Bestial failure
If you fail your roll and at least one
hunger die shows a ‘1’, the Hunger
interferes with your action and
the Beast manifests. You cause
some kind of problem for you (and
 probably the coterie), just like with
a messy critical, while also failing
spectacularly.
If you fail to come up with Example: Juana wishes to use Feral due to vampire fangs having a
something appropriate, stress Whispers (see Juana’s description in supernatural intoxicating eect
increases your Hunger by one the appendix) to ask the rats in an as they pierce the blood vessel. If
instead. area to warn the coterie if someone the vampire takes the time to hit
approaches. Feral Whispers has a cost a vein or artery correctly and licks
Rouse checks and of one Rouse check, so Juana’s player the wound closed aerward, the
using the Blood rolls a single die and increases Juana’s  victim may only remember the
Hunger increases whenever a hunger by one if it shows 1-5. encounter as a hazy drug trip, an
 player fails a Rouse check, and interlude of weird sex, or a deliri-
decreases when the vampire feeds. If Hunger is already at 5, the vam- ous fog of drunken intimacy.
Rouse checks are made whenever  pire can no longer take voluntary  As a general rule, attempt-
the vampire uses its Blood, and Rouse checks. ing while feeding to preserve the
every evening when it rises from No matter the result of the  victim’s life, health, and igno-
sleep. To make a Rouse check, Rouse check, the desired eect rance (all of which of course also
simply roll one die, and if isn’t (using a Discipline power, mend-  preserve the Masquerade) takes
a success, the vampire’s Hunger ing damage or adding the extra longer than simply ripping open
increases by one. die) always triers. e Rouse an artery and slurping down the
 Vampires can use the Blood to check only determines if Hunger red stu. On the other hand, a vic-
get an extra die on any roll, and increases as a result. If it does, add tim who ghts back slows things
to power their inhuman abilities, the Hunger dice aer the eect down and endangers the Masquer-
called Disciplines (each player resolves. ade. A vampire can drain and kill
character’s Disciplines are de- a helpless or otherwise unresisting
scribed on their character sheet). Feeding human in roughly ve turns.
Drinking blood reduces a vam- For the purposes of this quick-
Example: Paul wants a little extra on  pire’s Hunger level by a xed start, taking a non-lethal sip from
a roll to escape some hunters, and uses amount. Draining a human of a human reduces Hunger by one or
the Blood to get an extra die. Aer blood, thereby killing them, is two, completely draining a human
the roll, regardless of success or ailure the only way to reduce Hunger reduces it by ve, including the
rate, the player rolls a single die and to 0. It takes time and care to last Hunger dice. Draining several
increases Paul’s hunger by one if it drink blood properly. e bite of a animals may also reduce Hunger
shows 1-5.  vampire is euphoric to the victim, by one.

7
V A MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

Scene One: Meeting the

Contact 
is scene throws the characters straight in, and serves
as an introduction to the scenario. e players should
leave it with a basic outline of what has happened and of blood, which is why Webber immediately contacted
some idea of what to do next. Sam. e site has since been cleared but little else of
Begin the scene by asking the players where they note was found.
 want to set up the meeting with their contact, a nd Carl was a man in his mid-thirties, who still lived
set the scene there. Depending on your players this in his parents’ basement and had no registered place of
could be a parking lot, a local dive, a deserted stretch  work. Despite the popular images of su ch individuals
of road, or whatever else occurs to the players. Aer he was quite a looker. A roll of Intelligence + Finance
setting the scene, ask each player in turn for a physical (Diculty 3) reveals that he was living larger than he
description of their character. should be able to aord, even if supported nancially
Detective Robert Webber arrives on time, and is by his parents.
more nervous about meeting what he knows to be the Proceed to scene two as soon as the coterie has
undead than he is about the clandestine nature of the asked their questions and are prepared to move on
meeting. He gives the player characters an outline of  with their investigation.
the victims and what the police knows (which is not a
lot since he has stalled the investigation on purpose to
give the player characters time to take care of busi- Scene Two:
ness), and is then available for questions. He also gives
the coterie a number where they can reach him if they  Nightly Investigations
need anything.
is is an open-ended scene where the player charac-
Te victims ters are free to investigate the murders as they see t,
Two victims have been found so far, and the state of and should be fertile ground for skill tests. Proceed to
the bodies leave no doubt that the murders are con- the next scene when the players have run out of ideas
nected. Both bodies now reside in the local morgue, and/or when play loses steam.
awaiting processing. Give the player characters a moment to discuss
their approach and decide who will do what. It’s up
Simon Drummer, college jock  to them if they wish to proceed as a group or split up
 Victim number one, Simon Drummer, was found four to cover more ground. If the latter, balance the scenes
days ago, tucked away in a storm drain. Unfortunately, so that each team has roughly the same amount of
recent rains have made a mess of the crime scene. time in the spotlight. Ask each player in turn what
Simon was a strapping young lad in his early twen- they want their character to do during the rst night.
ties, attending college in another state but home over a Below are some examples of leads they might want
hiatus in his studies. He gives the impression of being to pursue, but be prepared to improvise as well if the
an “all-American young man” and oen poses with the  players come up with something unexpected.
football sweater of his team.
Te morgue
Carl Trush, basement cooker e bodies of the victims are still in the county
 Victim number two, Carl rush, was found two days morgue, awaiting processing. At night, a single atten-
ago in a copse of trees, splayed on a rock and emptied dant is there, burning the midnight oil. e characters

8
 QUICK START

can gain access by breaking in with a roll o Wits + Te murder scenes

Larceny (Diculty 3), bribing the attendant with a Unfortunately, there is very little at the two murder
roll of Manipulation + Persuasion (Diculty 3), or scenes. Some blood from the victim can be found on
impersonating law enforcement with Manipulation + the second scene if one really looks, but this says noth-
Subterfuge (Diculty 4). It is also possible to simply ing the coterie doesn’t already know.
call Sam or Webber and ask them to pull strings.
If the characters gain access they can examine the NOTE: Juana can talk to the animals at the two
bodies themselves using Intelligence + Medicine. If scenes, and they conrm that someone did indeed
several characters are present, only the one with the kill someone here. There was also a lot of blood.
highest dice pool rolls, and adds one die for each other
character present with at least one dot in Medicine. If
they subverted the attendant, the characters will be Te police precinct
 provided some basic information. Going to see the police is unwise. e characters
(“CSI-stu” is certainly possible, but will take likely have no credible alibis, and little reason to be
 weeks) in the area. Drawing attention to themselves from
the authorities is a bad idea (see “Dealing with law
SUCCESSES INFORMATION ( YOU GET EVERYTHING enforcement”). ere is also nothing the police can tell
ON AND BELOW YOUR LEVEL OF SUC -
CESS ) the coterie that Detective Webber can’t. Should the
0 They’re bodies. They have been sub- coterie go there against better judgement, Webber will
 jected to signicant violence. Best not call them shortly thereaer to berate them.
look too closely.
1 Both bodies have been savaged with at
least a slashing weapon of some sort.
2 Care has been taken to slash major
arteries, and there is much less blood
present in the bodies than there
should be. In both cases there are
signicant head traumas from blunt
objects as well.
3 The attacker seems an odd mix of
competent and furious. There are no
fang marks anywhere on the bodies,
but given the Kindred’s ability to close
fang marks with saliva, this doesn’t
rule out a vampire assailant.
4 There is little subterfuge here: the
murderer seems to have acted out of
rage, and given that crimes of passion
usually involve people with knowledge
of one another these were probably
not random victims.
5+ The victims were likely incapacitated
by the blow to the head, and only
later slashed. There seems to be no
pre-mortem damage, which clashes
somewhat with the rage theory.

9
V A MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

SUCCESSES INFORMATION ( 
YOU GET EVERYTHING ON
Te families LOWER LEVELS )

Interviewing the families of the victims under what- 0 “Whoever you are, fuck off!”
ever pretext is a straightforward task, and they are a
1 Carl claimed to have plenty of enemies:
little confused that the police haven’t done so a lready.
people who wished him ill and often
Unless approached early in the night, they will be assaulted him. The parents have never
asleep when the characters arrive. seen these people.
Simon Drummer’s family is very forthcoming, and
2 Carl was a successful businessman, and
best interviewed with a Charisma + Persuasion roll. paid for room and board at his parents’
place.
SUCCESSES INFORMATION ( 
YOU GET EVERYTHING
3 Carl instructed his parents to “get rid
BELOW YOUR LEVEL OF SUCCESS AS
WELL )
of all his stuff if something happened”
so the parents burnt it all. He’d had a
0 The coterie gets nothing but polite lot of chemistry equipment, a comput-
pleasantries. er and bundles of unsent packages.
1 Simon had no enemies and was well- 4 Carl’s business involved a lot of
liked by everyone. chemistry, strange smells, and lots of
2 All that slander about him is blatantly packages going out. He had all contacts
false, and will not be repeated. on his computer.

3 Several girlfriends have claimed Simon 5+ Carl was deeply paranoid, and lately
had been “less than a perfect gentle - complained that someone was stalking
man” with them. him “AFK”, whatever that means.

4 Simon was a good kid, really, it was

 just that sometimes they made him so  Asking around
angry, you know? Canvassing the neighborhood is done with Resolve +
5+ Simon once confessed he felt pres- Investigation or Streetwise, and the result varies with
sured to live up to expectations, and  what the characters are asking about. Allow anyone
thus “could get a little rough with  who spends signicant time asking around to roll, and
girls, because that’s what they like, and “purchase” appropriate clues for the players (they don’t
what is demanded of him by the other
automatically get everything on lower levels).
guys”. His parents made him apologize
SUCCESSES INFORMATION TIDBITS
to every one of his former girlfriends
when they discovered this. 0 You get nothing!
1 • Suspicious people have been sneaking
about lately (dubious).
Carl rush’s family is less forthcoming, and wants
• The police around here are irrepa -
nothing to do with the coterie, even should they claim
rably corrupt (true, as the characters
to be police. ey can be forced to talk with Charisma should know).
+ Intimidation, if the coterie is okay with bullying
• Simon’s trollops like it rough, every-
information out of a traumatized family. one knows that (not true).
• Carl is a basement creep who de-
served what he got (not true).

10
 QUICK START

2 • The folks around here are pious and Hitting the books
righteous (dubious). ■ Searching the archives for similar crimes in the
• A lot of people around here are area yields nothing unless the character scores four
suspicious of authority, and like to take or more successes on a Resolve + Investigation roll.
matters into their own hands (true).
In this case they discover that something did hap-
• The postmaster always carries a
 pen in a neighboring region thirty years ago, but
heavy load to and from Carl’s place.
this has been carefully expunged from all records
• Large packages go in, small packages
(See Chapter Tree - the characters are chasing
come out (true).
their own tail here).
3 • Harry Lloyd is a known stalker and ■ Looking for possible suspects also u ses Resolve +
murderer who served his time. He
Investigation, and reveals the existence and ad dress
lives around here, and people have
given him the what-for many times, but of Harry Lloyd with three successes.
he is protected by the police (true). ■ Seeking the history of the region gives nothing
• People here are suspicious and su - substantial.
perstitious, prone to vicious gossip and
mob mentality (true). Encounter: Harry Lloyd
• “There are monsters out there. If the players uncover Harry Lloyds existence, they
They need to be hunted down without might decide to pay him a visit (otherwise he features
mercy.” (true, but not in the way they heavily in the next chapter). If they ask Webber about
think). it he says that he doesn’t keep track of “every ex-con
4 • A suit and his goons have been pok -  who committed a crime back when Reagan was presi-
ing around lately. They drive two fancy dent”.
cars and look dangerous (true, this is Harry has nothing to oer except to stress his
Marcus Lector, see below).
innocence, and with a Wits + Insight (Diculty 3)
• There are generally no homeless one gets the impression that he is telling the truth.
people around here (not true), but
Intimidation yields nothing but a sobbing wretch of a
people claim to have seen a vagrant
several times at night (true, this is the man who begs for mercy.
victim in scene three).
• People in this region take an active Encounter: Marcus Lector
stance when it comes to making sure  At some point the players should be contacted by one
the community is safe from monsters, of Marcus’ goons, who says his boss wants to meet. It
and the authorities turn a blind eye, if is also possible that the coterie goes out to confront
they even know (true). Marcus aer having heard the talk on the town;
5+ • Simon has severely beaten several regardless the scene plays out the same. e goon will
girls from school over the years (true). reveal that Marcus is “of the Blood” and an “interested
• Carl was the “crack king” of the  party”, nothing more. If the coterie ref uses, Marcus
county and sold to everyone, including  will instead seek them out, and be signi cantly less
minors (true).  polite. He can also contact the coterie throug h Sam, if
• The fancy suit is st aying at a fancy necessary. If asked, Sam is cautious when it comes to
motel off the ‘56 (true, this is where Marcus and oers no advice.
Marcus Lector sleeps during the day).
Marcus knows of the coterie’s mission through the
grapevine, and has a proposition for them, which he
makes aer small talk at the motel where he stays. A
 Wits + Awareness roll (Diculty 4) reveals that Mar-
cus’ goons are signicantly armed, and equipped with

11
V A MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

tasers. ey have also brought a disguised ambulance  players have been investigating. However, at the end of
and restraints. Marcus collects Dyscracias or “Clots”: the night also works, as this will make the beginning
rare formations of human blood that have mystical of the next chapter a race against the sun as well.
 properties. He claims that the Clots of serial killers  Webber directs them to a long-abandoned apart-
are the best, as they “take away all the guilt, all the ment building a ways away from the town proper, and
anguish” from “that most pleasurable activity”. If the asks that the characters contact him with instructions
coterie nds the murderer, Marcus wants him or her,  when they are done at the scene (he ex pects to be told
alive, and is oering the coterie a major Boon4 as pay- to either clean it up, call it in or do nothing). He will
ment. Should they nd but not give him the murder- not join them.
er, he will be “most displeased”, but does not elaborate. On the third oor there is an obvious squat, where
someone has been living for quite some time. ere is
rudimentary scavenged furniture, bedding, and drug
Scene Three:  paraphernalia. In one of the room s lies the corpse of
a vagrant, similarly savaged as the earlier victims, but
The third victim  visibly less so. As usual, ask each player in turn what
they want to do in the scene.
Scene ree begins when Detective Webber calls the
coterie to inform them that there has been a third Investigating the corpse
murder, and this time the players can be rst on the e victim has not been drained of blood, evident
scene. is is likely to occur in the beginning of the from the fact that she lies in a huge pool of it. e
second or third night, depending on how long the  youthful face is untouched, and Composure + Investi-
gation (Diculty 2) reveals that there is signicantly
4 A favour in Kindred parlance. A major Boon from someone as less slashing than on the previous victims, as if the
 powerf ul as Marc us is a signi cant gain for the coterie , who other-
 wise stand s to gain only t he lack of displea sure fro m their mast er
murderer suddenly stopped. ree successes reveals
for a job well done. that the cuts seem more methodical.

12
 QUICK START

Investigating the squat

Looking through the vagrant’s modest belongings reveals noth-
ing except that she was a drug user, poor, and probably miserable.
ree successes on a Composure + Investigation roll reveals unsent
letters tucked away, where the writer begs to be taken back by her
family.

Investigating the house

e house is largely empty, but a Wits + Awareness (Diculty 3)
roll reveals a second squat behind some loose boards. is looks
more temporary, with a decent sleeping bag, stove and MRE:s. It
also contains a small box with locks of hair (trophies from Simon
and Carl, but this might not be directly evident). e room is not
sunproofed, and tape and blu tac remnants on the walls suest
something was torn down in a hurry.
e murderer has sayed here for a period of time, and if they un-
dersand this, the indings should convince the coterie that the murderer
isn’t a vampire.

Tracking the murderer

Summoning e.g. a dog and tracking the murderer is a brilliant
idea, and leads the coterie to the room described above. Have the
character roll only for the use of the Discipline, and don’t make
a separate roll for tracking. Before the coterie can track the mur-
derer in the opposite direction, the dog bays, and Chapter Two
begins.

Keeping watch/idling
Even if no character purposely keeps watch (as they have little
incentive to do so) allow any character who idles or merely assists
another character a Wits + Awareness roll (Diculty 3) to notice
several shapes moving in the darkness outside the building.
Proceed to Act Two.

NOTE: Roll for any watching/idling characters last, as their

action effectively moves play to the next act.

 Aer each character has had the chance to do something, proceed

to Chapter Two.

13
V A MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

Chapter 2  – Divergence

“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Basic conict example be Strength + Brawl or
a burn for a burn. a life for a life. Conict happens in a urry of Composure + Firearms. Characters
that’s how all this got sarted. and blows, rhetorical or physical. sometimes change pools during
that’s how it’s going to end.”   When each participant in the con- a conict, for instance if they
― Jenny Han, Fire with Fire ict has acted once, or declined change weapons.
to act, that denes a turn. Turns
n this chapter the heat is take as much time as the narrative Example: Aileen rolls Composure +

I turned up, quite literally,

and the scenario shis from
low-key investigation to more
indicates they should. us, one
roll does not necessarily represent
one swing of a baseball bat, unless
Firearms against the arget’s Dexter -
ity + Athletics, two dice deducted
 from the arget’s pool since he breaks
frantic action. Aer the build-up the Storyteller says it does. cover to charge, while Charles engages
of the rst chapter it should also  At the start of every turn of in a Strength + Brawl vs Dexterity
highlight and bring to the fore the the conict, each player declares + Melee contest with his opponen. If
theme of the scenario. their intent, i.e. what they are alive, Aileen’s atacker rolls Strength +
trying to achieve. In a physical Brawl vs Aileen’s Dexterity + Athletics.
conict this can be anything from Te Storyteller tells Paul that he inds
Rules in this trying to tackle the driver of an cover without needing to roll, since he
escaping motorcycle to simply tak- was not atacked this turn.
Chapter ing cover.
Both the attacker and defender
e rules you will be using in this Example: Going le to right around roll their pools simultaneously in a
chapter are basic (physical) conlic t the able, the Storyteller asks the play- basic conict. e side that scores
and damage. ers to describe their intended actions. the most successes wins their
Paul wants to dive for cover, Aileen turn of that conict. e winner
shoots, and Charles desperately tries to subtracts the loser’s successes from
 fend o an atacker without killing i. their total and applies the remain-
Once all players have decided on der as damage (see below).
their courses of action, the Storyteller If the conict is one-sided,
makes the same decisions for all SPC:s such as when the defender is try-
and tells the troupe which dice pools to ing to avoid getting shot, only the
build. Te players then roll to attempt attacker can inict damage. If
i. both participants are able to cause
harm to their opponent, the con-
Example: No one atacks Paul, Aileen ict is two-sided, with both sides
is charged by her arge, and Charles’ counting as attackers. In this case,
atacker keeps atacking. the actions of both parties are
merged into a single conict roll.
Conict Pools  A tie results in both parties inict-
e dice pool each participant ing one point of damage on the
uses in a conict turn is called other (remember to add weapon
their conict pool. In a physical damage if applicable, see below).
ght, the conict pool might for

14
 QUICK START

Ranged weapons damage (for the purposes of Mark Aravated damage on the
Ranged combat is resolved as a this quickstart, the storyteller character sheet by making an “X”
contest, usually vs the defender’s assigns weapon damage - a on the tracker.
Dexterity + Athletics. In cases knife might be +1, a rie +3).
 where two combatants are attack- Impairment
ing each other at range, you can Example: Firing her pistol, Aileen gets Once the character sustains
resolve it as a two-sided Firearms two more successes than the opponen. enough damage of either type, or
conict (see above). is assumes  Adding the pistol’s weapon rating a mix, to ll their tracker, they
that the subjects have access to of +2, the arget suers 4 points of are Impaired. Impaired characters
limited cover, such as a car or the damage. lose two dice from all relevant dice
corner of a building. A character  pools: Physical pools and any other
 with no available cover subtracts Types of damage  pools the Storyteller believe to be
two dice from their defense pool. In the Storyteller System, damage similarly weakened.
comes in two types:  At the Storyteller’s discretion,
Dodging mortals are incapacitated at this
 When engaged in a Brawl or Melee ■ Supercial damage: bruises, stage. For every level of damage
conict, the defender can always sprains, grazes, and the like of either kind, Supercial or Ag-
opt to use their Dexterity + Ath- but not immediately life- gravated, a character takes while
letics instead of a combat skill to threatening injury. Fists, kicks, Impaired, convert one previously
defend. If they do, they inict no and non-lethal weapons, such sustained Supercial damage to
damage on the opponent, no mat- as tasers, do Supercial dam-  Aravated damage on a one-for-
ter the margin, if they win. age to humans. Standard weap- one basis. Turn the “/” to a “X”
ons, such as hand guns and on the track. Remember to halve
Multiple opponents blades, do Supercial damage Supercial damage as usual before
In a conict where teaming up to vampires. converting it.
makes sense, a character facing
multiple opponents loses one die ■  Aravated damage: broken Te end of the tracker
from their defence pool for each bones, wounds, and life-  A character with their tracker
successive opponent that targets threatening injuries. Sharp and completely lled with Aravated
them. In order to attack multiple  piercing weapons do Ara- damage is out of the conict, pos-
foes as a single action, a character  vated damage to humans. Fire, sibly permanently. In a physical
must split their attack dice pool. sunlight, and the claws and combat, they are comatose or dead
teeth of some supernatural (if mortal), or fall into torpor (if
Damage creatures do Aravated dam- a vampire; in this quickstart this
In a physical conict, damage age to vampires. eectively takes the character out
targets Health. e winner of each of the scenario).
contest applies their success mar- Tracking damage
gin to the loser’s relevant tracker Characters apply their damage to
as damage. Sometimes, circum- the Health track. Unless otherwise Healing Damage
stances mandate extra damage stated, divide Supercial dam-  Vampires can heal one Supercial
aer the contest: age in half (rounded up) before damage level per turn by making a
applying it to the tracker. Mark Rouse check.
■ If the winner used a weapon, each level of Supercial damage
they add the relevant weapon’s on the character sheet by making
damage rating to the total a “/” in one box on the tracker.

15
V A MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

Scene One: Roughly half of the posse are war veterans, have six
dice in their pools and are armed with AR-15:s (+1 dice
In our midst! to the attack pool; damage +3) or shotguns (damage
+4). ey have six boxes in their health t racker. e
is scene is a pure action scene, with the players rest have four dice, are armed with baseball bats, golf
trying to escape from a posse of “monster hunters”, clubs and similar weapons (damage +2), and have ve
 who think they are hunting a serial killer, and believe boxes in their health trackers. If you really want to
most human evil to be of supernatural origin. What spice things up, have one or two armed with molotov
complicates matters is the fact that simply killing the cocktails5 (damage +0, but aravated versus vam-
attackers probably isn’t compatible with keeping a  pires).
low prole and preserving the Masquerade. Note that
it is quite possible that this scene ends quickly, if the
characters bolt rst thing; especially if they spot the What if the coterie massacres the posse? Well, if
hunters early. they hide the bodies and no-one lives to tell, nothing
Unbeknownst to the coterie, another party has happens before the end of the scenario. However,
been frantically searching for the killer, but have up this amount of missing people will sooner or later
to this point been conned to psyching themselves up cause a stir, and the coterie is, possibly quite literally,
in a garage. is night, the murderer was spotted and cooked when it reaches Sam’s ears. If they kill only
the posse springs into action. Unfortunately for them, some of the posse and the rest escape, the manhunt
they are no smooth operators, and by the time they get is quickly on as the posse members spin their tales.
there, the coterie is there instead. Sam will have no option but to pull the characters
If the coterie spotted the posse in the previous out.
chapter, give them a minute or so to react before the The Storyteller should be merciless when it
hunters reach them. If not, the hunters storm them comes to the consequences of solving one’s problems
right on, having already seen them. with naked violence and wholesale butchery.
 Just like before, and as described in the rules
above, ask each player what their characters do, and
then perform roughly three turns of combat, during If the scene took place early in the night, start the next
 which smart players will likely tr y to escape. If things scene as soon as the players have had an hour or so to
are still not concluded, add one or two extra turns, catch their breath. If it took place late in the night, the
assuming the action is entertaining. Aer that, if the next scene starts as soon as the players wake up the
coterie is still trying to escape, let them escape, and next evening.
if they are holding out against the posse, the posse
retreats.

Te Posse
 You as Storyteller will have to determine the
size of the posse depending on the diculty level
 you want, but roughly six or so combatants is a good
number. Nevermind individual stats for the posse
members, instead use a xed number of dice for all
their rolls. If you as a Storyteller want to roll less dice,
 you can also just assign the opposing NPC:s half their
 pool (rounded up) in successes, and let only the players 5 It’s not like they know they’re ghting vampires, but hey - re
roll dice.  works again st many thin gs, especi ally if you want to see th em bur n.

16
 QUICK START

Scene Two: Scapegoat 

Depending on the timing, this scene takes part either
early or late in the night. It is open-ended, and re-
quires the players to make some hard choices. It begins
 when Detective Webber calls with an emerging op-
 portunity. e third victim has sprung the community
into action, and they already named their monster:
Harry Lloyd. ey are now on their way to mete out
some mob “justice”. Webber thinks this is excellent
and suests that the murders be pinned on Harry.
 All the coterie needs to do is make sure Harry doesn’t
survive his encounter with the crowd; dead men get
no counsel and present no alibis, and it will be easy for
 Webber to wrap every thing up later.
Give the coterie a moment to discuss the idea and Many of them look quite distraught aerwards,
 what to do. Ideally, the coterie should have a thing not having counted on things going that far.
or two to say on the morals of the situation. If they ■ If they want to talk the crowd into leaving, use
decide to do nothing, have Sam call them and give the same pools, but one Diculty higher since the
them a piece of her mind: this time, it isn’t optional. crowd is far gone already.
If they still decide to do nothing, Harry is placed in ■ Sneaking into the house and getting Harry out
a coma by the mob, and they will be in trouble with the back requires a distraction - there are mem-
Sam later; disobedience among Kindred carries a sti, bers of the crowd surrounding the house - likely
oen fatal, price. Proceed to scene three.  Wits + Subterfuge (Dicu lty 2, crowds are easy
If the coterie decides to act, either to blame Harry to manipulate), followed by Composure + L arceny
or to save him (the coterie was in the same spot not (Diculty 3) to get in. Harry needs little convinc-
long ago, aer all), the scene proceeds to Harry’s ing to come along if the characters promise to help.
house, now besieged by several dozen angry townspeo- ■ Convincing Harry to show himself, yelling “gun!”
 ple, working themselves up to storm in. and simply shooting him is Resolve + Subterfuge
 What happens next is up to the coter ie, below are (Diculty 3) followed by Composure + Firearms
some examples: (Diculty 2). Webber takes care of the rest.

■ If they are passive, the crowd eventually storms the Inventive coteries can probably come up with mo re
house and beats Harry into a coma, as above. At ideas.
this point the coterie can sneak up to Harry in the
commotion and nish the job with a Manipulation
+ Stealth (Diculty 3). What if the coterie ghts the mob?
■ If they try to rile up the crowd and make them kill That’s just silly. Either they are overwhelmed or kill
Harry, use Charisma + Performance (Diculty enough people to make the crowd ee, subsequently
3) or Manipulation + Performance (Diculty 4), becoming America’s most wanted, hunted by humans
depending on whether the characters talk directly and vampires alike. However, causing a ruckus to
to the crowd or hide among them, playing along. make the crowd target them instead is a viable dis-
 At least two characters need to succeed to whip tractionary tactic.
the crowd up enough to make them do t he deed.

17
V A MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

Options include but are not limited to:

■ Sneaking in late at night. Te police don’t like

to work late, and will post a couple of uniforms

outside the suite to make sure the crime scene isn’t
tainted. Impersonating law enforcement is dicult
but doable with Charisma + Subterfuge (Diculty
5). Subduing the ocers is also possible, but might
raise questions later. Distracting them with e.g. a
re alarm could also work.
■ Climbing in from the outside is quite dicult,

as the window will have to be forced without the

ocers hearing anything, while simultaneously
climbing (Dexterity + whatever is lower of Athlet-
ics and Larceny, Diculty 5). Any subsequent
investigation will also have to be quiet.
■ Te easiest solution is to call Sam and ask for her

help. Less than an hour later, the characters have

 permission to investigate the scene.

Regardless of the outcome, a period of calm follows,  As soon as they gain access, the characters realise
before the wheels of the world grind on and scene that the scene is indeed more elaborate, in a way
three begins (at least one night later). that provokes instant recognition. e body has been
staged, and extensively savaged, but in an attempt to
recreate something from the coterie’s past rather than
Scene Three: in rage. On the wall is a message that has baed the
 police, but has great meaning to the coterie: “Four for
Fourth victim Four”. Chapter two ends immediately, as the coterie is
catapulted into the past.
Scene four also starts with a call from Webber: a
fourth victim has been found, and this time, there’s no
keeping the lid on. When the vampires were sleeping, a
janitor stumbled upon the corpse of Mike Clark, male
model and sex worker, in a suite at a nearby hotel. is
time, the coterie is told that the murder scene is more
elaborate and the police are all over it. Unfortunately,
 Webber himself hasn’t got access.
is scene culminates with the “big reveal” of the
scenario, leading to the ashback in chapter three.
e main diculty lies in getting access to the crime
scene, which is cordoned o.

18
 QUICK START

19
V A MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

Chapter 3  – Monsters we are

“e monsters were never
under my bed. Scene One:
Because the monsters
were inside my head. Innocence Lost 
I fear no monsters, “Oh, no. It costs a lot more than your life. To murder inno-
 for no monsters I see. cent people?” says Peea. “It costs ever ything you are.” 
Because all this time ― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay
the monster has been me.” 
― Nikita Gill In this scene, the will-be coterie has to deal with the
immediate aermath of them having brutally slain

T his chapter is a ashback, and probably sig-

nicantly shorter than the previous two. In it,
the coterie learns who the real monsters are.
Storytelling a ashback can be a bit tricky if the play-
ers don’t play along and cooperate. Should they not,
and savaged a human being.
Set the scene in a multi-room hotel suite in the
 wee hours of the morning, with the players snapping
to aer the fog of Frenzy6, and nding themselves
standing over the bloodied corpse of a person. ey
don’t hesitate to take a break and talk about what you are covered in blood. Simply ask them: “so, what are you
expect from a ashback scene. Otherwise, keep the  going to do now?” 
scenes quick and crisp, cutting as soon as the central  Allow the players a few moments of roleplay, but
message of the scene has been shown. just as they go into problem-solving mode, add fuel
e chronology of the scenes are broken, as trips to the re as a young party-goer ings the door to the
down memory lane are wont to be. erefore, make suite open, yelling “coca deliveryyy!”. As he takes in
sure to set each scene carefully. the carnage and braces to scream, he is likely not long
Start by handing the players the handout from the for this world, and the vampires have claimed their
appendix and give them a moment to read the descrip- second victim for the night.
tion and the cues for the rst scene. If they happen to  Allow the players another few moments before you
glance at the later scenes, no problem. As you begin increase the pressure a third time, as another party-
scene two and three, give the players a moment to read goer, perhaps a footballer, comes to in an adjoining
their cues for that scene. room, asking what “all the hubbub is about”. is time
the coterie has a little more leeway, but don’t make it
easy for them.
Rules in this Chapter  As soon as the scene has progressed far enough
and the characters are getting desperate (preferably
is chapter should ideally be run diceless. If the  with multiple people banging on the doors of the suite
characters want to use Disciplines, remind them that asking what is going on, multiple crises, all of them
it is thirty years ago, right aer they became vampires, threatening catastrophe, etc.), cut to the next scene,
and they only have access to a single power: the rst in  which takes place an hour or so previou sly.
their two-dot discipline (the free one).

6 A state in which the vampires true nature, sometimes called

“e Beast”, comes to the fore, overriding the senses and making
the vampire give in to its basest instincts

20
 QUICK START

Scene Two: So Hungry  Scene Three:

“Full bellies breed gentle manners. e pinch of amine  A bond is forged
makes monsters.” 
― Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies “Murder is like poato chips: you can’t stop with just one .” 
― Stephen King, Under the Dome
In this scene, the coterie learns how scene one came
to be, and the terrible price of denying the Beast. is Scene three is calm, cool, and calculated. It takes place
scene should be description-heavy, and preferably con- slightly aer scene two, and is where the puzzle pieces
tain less dialogue. Don’t worry if the scene becomes nally fall into place, the connection with the present
choppy and surreal, the characters’ memories of this becoming evident. It is a dialogue-only scene.
 period is fo y at best. Set the scene at the suite, well removed from the
Set the scene in the lobby and adjoining restau- mess in the other rooms. With the players is Sam,
rant of a large hotel, with a throng of people milling  who in exchange for future favors has agreed to help
about. We’re at the party of a large conference, and them. Address the players as Sam, and ask what they
the mood is high. Everyone is getting lost in the throes  want to do about all this mess. She shoots down any
of free booze, loud music and the company of their suestions to “call in cleaners” or anything of the like.
fellows. Everyone except the characters, who so far Eventually, someone will come up with the idea to
have refused to feed from humans but are increasingly dress it as the work of a serial killer, and Sam agrees
debilitated by their Hunger. ey have been set up that this is a good idea. Depending on how many
at the hotel by a fellow K indred (Sam), who wants to  people the characters have killed so far, Sam wil l reply
teach them the ropes of vampire existence. along the lines of “we might have to pad the statistics7
 Ask the players what their characters do in a set- a little bit to make it look believable later, but t hat’s
ting such as this, and emphasize the constant dark for another day”. Let the characters discuss the details
impulses that assail them, especially so close to so of this approach for a while, and this time, go full on
many humans. Aer a while, cut to the suite, as the  problem-solving. End the scene, and the chapter, when
characters desperately seek to be among less people, someone mentions that they should leave a message
afraid what they might do otherwise. from the killer: “Four for Four”.
 At the suite, give the players a moment to role- If the players seem not to understand that this is
 play their fear and loathing of their alien, monstrous  what bonds them into a coterie, what is a lluded to in
nature. e humans there quickly leave, but at least their character descriptions, and what places them
one person remains (placed there by Sam, but this the under Sam’s thumb, make sure these pieces fall into
characters do not know) suddenly walking in on the  place.
 players, stating “I’m here for you”. e characters’ vi-
sions turn blood red, and play cuts to scene three. NOTE: May sure you check in with all your players
after this chapter, and perhaps take a short break, if
play has been emotionally exhausting.

7 i.e. murder more people

21
V A MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

Chapter 4  – What should

 we do with monsters?
Not at irs, bu... right there in the last insan. It’s an is scene also gives the coterie the opportunity
unmisakable relie. See, cause they were afraid, and now to tie o any other loose scenario ends, and could be a
they saw for the very irst time how easy it was to jus... let good opportunity for another encounter with Marcus
 go. Yeah, they saw, in that last nanosecond, they saw... what Lector, for example.
they were. You, yoursel, this whole big drama, it was neve r e scene ends, unsurprisingly, when the coterie
more than a jerry-rig of presumption and dumb will, and goes to confront the monster(s).
 you could just let go. To inally know that you didn’t have
to hold on so tigh. To realize that all your life - you know,
all your love, all your hate, all your memories, all your Scene two: Confrontation
 pain - it was all the same thing. It was all the same dream,
a dream that you had inside a locked room, a dream about In this scene, the coterie nally confronts the
being a person. And like a lot of dreams, there’s a monster at monster(s), conrming what they should already have
the end of i. guessed, and forcing them to decide how they want it
-Nathan Cole, True Detective all to end.
Set the scene on a rural property, with one large

T his is the nal chapter of the scenario, in

 which the coterie confronts the “monster”
and perhaps themselves, making some hard
decisions.
house. If they make themselves known, Martha invites
them in. If they sneak up, Martha is in the living
room, patiently awaiting the end.
Exactly how to play out this scene depends a little
on what you expect the players to do, and how you
think they want their climax. Basically, it boils down
Rules in this Chapter to three options:

is chapter uses all the rules presented previously. Confrontation Climax
If the players seem keenest on exploring the moral-
ity of the scenario and don’t mind a climax with very
Scene one: little action, Martha puts up no physical resistance.
Instead, she tries to drive home and twist the knife of
 What it is all about  guilt and shame as much as possible. e coterie will
have to decide what to do with Martha: Give her to
Given that the coterie now knows that the killer is the authorities and the needle, risking that the events
connected to their own previous deeds, they should be from thirty years ago surface? Let her go, despite what
able to identify and track the murderer quite easily. she has done and the risk she poses? Kill her, while
Set the scene wherever the players desire, some staring into the mirror?
time aer the events in chapter two. Looking into the
identities of the victims of thirty years ago quickly Slasher Climax
reveals that one of them has a living relative who lives If the players seem to want to either give Martha up to
an hour’s drive away, and who has been conducting a Lector, or kill her, but would feel cheated of an action-
 private investigation of the murders ever since. climax, you might arrange for a hate-and-desperation-

22
 QUICK START

fuelled battle between them and Martha. In order to Scene three: Conclusion
make a ght between an elderly human and four vam-
 pires interesting, bring forth the great equalizer: re. is scene is for tying up any loose ends, and describ-
 As the coterie conf ronts Martha she sets the house on ing what happens next, on a longer timescale. It need
re, which rapidly becomes a smoke and ame lled not be longer than a short description.
maze. Give Martha a combat pool of six dice and a Depending on the conduct of the coterie they will
health tracker of six. She ghts with a meat-cleaver (+2 either be lauded or chastised by Sam. In general, if
damage), and in order to attack her, characters need they have caused more ruckus than the original mur-
to rst succeed on a Resolve + Awareness roll (Di- ders (certainly a possibility for some player groups),
culty 4) to both locate her and steel themselves against Sam will be cross. If they have caused less, she will be
the vampiric instinct to ee re. ey have -2 dice satised, and if they have been smooth, she will even
to defences from Martha’s attacks, since she knows be nice.
the warren that is her house intimately and is able to Marcus is true to his word if they hand Martha
attack from surprising angles. All player characters over to him, and he now owes them. ey’ll have to
additionally suer one level of aravated damage per live with the fact that he will most likely subject Mar-
turn from re. tha to the most horric treatment, as well as use her
e coterie either ees the burning building with blood to dull his conscience when doing what he does.
Martha’s fate uncertain8, succumbs to Martha and the Depending on what they did with Harry, he will
ames, or kills Martha. A particularly poetic ending either be dead, in a coma, or miserable.
 would have all the monsters perish in t he re. Most signicant, however, is how the player
characters have been changed by the ordeal, see the
epilogue below.
Collector Climax
If it seems that the characters are not handing Martha
to Lector and don’t want to kill her outright, Marcus
Lector comes to collect (even if they told him no previ-
ously). He gives them an opportunity to give Martha
up voluntarily, then attacks.
Marcus himself has seven combat dice and a health
tracker of eight. He also reduces all damage received
by two because of his vampiric resilience. He ghts
 with a sabre (+3 damage). His goons have six dice and
health trackers of six, as well as body armor (convert
up to four points of aravated damage to supercial).
ey all use SMG:s (+2 damage).
Lector does not ght to the death, but retreats
 with a promise to return if Impaired (see above) or if
he loses three or more people without any progress.
It is also more important for him to get away with
Martha than to destroy the characters.

8 She must have died in the re. For sure.

23
V A MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

 Epilogue 
Humanity ending 
T here are two epilogues for “e Monster(s)”,
based on whether the characters embraced
their inner Beasts during the scenario, or if
they managed to hold them at bay. Take a few mo-
ments as a group and discuss which ending you think
Despite the many threats to it, the coterie has man-
aged to hold on to their humanity for another day.
Sooner or later, they will succumb - all vampires even-
the coterie deserves. Did the coterie express empathy tually do, but for now, there is a compromise between
 with the murderer’s victims in chapter one? Did they themselves and their Beasts.
use their Disciplines to lord over others? Did they
gladly accept Marcus Lector’s oer? Did they express Paul
empathy with Harry? Did they butcher the posse in Hmm… perhaps the story that you are in is more com-
chapter two? Did they callously murder Harry? Did  plicated than you thought? Can there be more than
they seem perturbed by the revelations in chapter one protagonist? Perhaps life does continue for people
three? What did they do at the conclusion in chapter that are no longer in your eld of view? How deep
four? Does wanting to do good matter if the results are does this rabbit-hole they call “the world” go, anyway?
bad? Is it a mitigating circumstance that the penalty ere must be patterns, yeees, patterns...
for disobedience for the coterie is very harsh?
Charles
Note: Vampire: the Masquerade has a Humanity sys- Doing the right thing is damn hard, that’s for sure.
tem which regulates how deeply into a bestial state a It’s like there is nothing completely black and white,
character has degenerated. Since this quickstart is a but rather shades of grey, and you have to work all the
stand-alone scenario, this system is abstracted here. time to see your path. Not you shouldn’t try, of course.
But one thing is certain: one day you are going to have
to pay for every life you take.

 Aileen
Sometimes, if you concentrate real hard, it is almost as
if you could have it again, that spark. But… no. It was
lost with your heartbeat. Doesn’t mean you can’t still
inspire others, of course. Perhaps that is your fate: to
be the eternal muse.

 Juana 
e world of animals is better than the world of hu-
mans. But no matter how much you want it, you are no
animal. is curse of yours, it is something else, and
 you can see it clearer than most when you look into
the mirror. e two worlds must be kept in check, in
balance, or disaster strikes.

24
 QUICK START

Beast ending 
rough inaction, ineptitude or desire, the Beast has
been le free to revel in the coterie’s dark deeds, erod-
ing their humanity and bringing them closer to that
dark place where reason disappears entirely and the
 vampiric nature lords supreme.

Paul
 You knew it! It was about you all along! It was your
hand that turned the wheels of fate and brought it all
into motion! You were the start, the middle and the
end of it all! And now you know exactly how to shred
all such doubt in the future, how to irrevocably place
 yourself in the spotlight. All you need is a blade… and
 patterns.

Charles
ey are all sinners, all guilty. ere is no black or
 white, only deep, sucking mud. You are in to your
knees already, but this is good, you are right where you
need to be. You are the cleaner, and the world is dirty.
 Aer all, it isn’t you that’s locked onto this earth with
all of them, it is all of them locked onto this earth
 with you!

 Aileen
 You see it now. e answer was right there. It lies in
the Clots - the special blood possessed by few, only a c-
cessible by the kill. But it can be cultivated, nurtured,
infused into the blood with much work. All you need
is a subject, and exclusive access. And motivation, of
course, and pain, essential ingredients of creativity.
Fortunately, you know exactly which buttons to push...

 Juana 
e world of humans must end. Alone, with the
animals, you will nally nd peace. ere can be other
 vampires with you, of course, if they can subsist on
animal blood. ere will be others who see things your
 way. Like rats you must all gnaw upon the roots of t he
 world, until it topples back to nature.

25
V A MP I R E – T H E M A S Q U E R A D E

 Appendix 

Paul Clunie, the “protagonist”

 Apparent age: early thirties Relations:
Embraced: late eighties
CHARLES

 Whatever the story, you are its protagonist. All thin gs  You sometimes get the feeling that Charles doesn’t...
happen for a reason, and that reason is you! You never understand. He is your main man, the Sundance to
question why, that’s just the way it is. If, sometimes,  your Butch, but sometimes, it’s like he doesn’t under-
other people do not see it that way, you must make stand who’s who. He seems to have no t rouble letting
them understand, show them the obvious signs and go of the limelight, however, which suits you just ne.
 patterns that others miss, which clearly show your
involvement in the plots around you. AILEEN

In an earlier life, you were an analyst, looking Every story needs a leading lady, and she’s it. Too bad
at nancial data and nding signs of malfeasance. she acts more like some sort of real artist than what
Important work, for sure, but oh so boring. So you  you need: to make sure everyone understands your
started inven… eh, seeing patterns, shaping patterns, importance in the scheme of things. She really should
molding patterns… and then, one day, along came a  put more eort into her role, and less into her art!
stranger and that was the start of a neverending story.
 And let’s face it, stories are better at night anyway!  JUAN A

e coterie you run with are your sidekicks. If it wasn’t for that occasion in your shared past, you’d
ey’re the supporting cast, mainly there to highlight spend very little time with this… thing. Once you
 your presence in the story. You are loyal to them as made the mistake of looking beneath the rags, and
they are loyal to you, through deed and purpose.  what you saw was evidently best le alone. She does
seem to care about you, but you care little for her af-
fections.

26
 QUICK START

Sense the unseen ■■ Te user can also actively provoke a premoni-
e senses of the vampire become attuned to dimen- tion by focusing on a subject, making a Rouse Check
sions beyond the mundane, allowing them to sense and rolling Resolve + Auspex. e number of successes
 presences otherwise hidden from the naked eye. is determines the level of insight on the subject, if any.
can be anything from another vampire using Ob- ■■ Duration: Passive

fuscate9 to someone using Auspex to spy upon the

character to a ghost in the middle of the room.
■ Cost: Free Cloud memory 
■ Dice Pools: Wits + Auspex or Resolve + Auspex By uttering the phrase “Forget!” the user can make the
■ System: Whenever there’s something supernatural Dominated victim forget the current moment as well
hiding in plain sight, the Storyteller makes a hidden as the last few minutes, enough to mask a supercial
roll o Wits + Auspex against a Diculty they choose. feeding or a chance meeting. No new memories are
 Against an entity actively trying to stay hidden, the formed and if pressed the victim realizes they have a
Storyteller can call for a blind roll (“Lisa, roll seven few minutes missing.
dice for me”) as a contest against the target’s rel- ■■ Cost: Free

evant pool. For example, detecting a vampire using ■■ Dice Pools: Charisma + Dominate vs Wits +

Obfuscate would be a roll o Wits + Auspex vs Wits Resolve

+ Obfuscate. If the vampire actively searches for a ■■ System: No roll is required against an unprepared

hidden supernatural entity, they roll Resolve + Auspex mortal victim. Clouding the memory of a resisting
similarly.  victim or another vampire requires a Charisma +
■ Duration: Passive Dominate vs Wits + Resolve roll.
■■ Duration: Indenitely

Premonition
e vampire experiences ashes of insight. ese may
take the form of raised hackles, sudden inspiration
or even vivid visions. While never too precise, these
 visions can nudge the vampire out of harm’s way or
reveal a truth previously overlooked.
■■ Cost: Free or one Rouse Check

■■ Dice Pools: Resolve + Auspex

■■ System: Whenever the Storyteller deems it ap-

 propriate, this power gives the characte r a sudden hint

that aids them in some way: letting them nd a clue
they’ve missed or saving them from danger. Whether
it gives the character a sudden vision of themselves
 walking into a trap, throws an inviting red glow over
the second right turn during a chase, or briey ashes
a skeleton beneath the oorboards in the Prince’s of-
ce, this power always gives the Storyteller license to
subtly speed up play or move the stor y onto a desired
track.

9 A vampire power that lets you stay unseen . It doesn’t feature in

this quickstart.

27